Tag: Michael Hastings

Journalist Michael Hasting died in the early morning June 18, 2013 when his Mercedes C250 mysteriously went out of control and crashed into a palm tree bursting into flames after having been seen traveling at a very high rate of speed on a residential street.

Immediately after, WikiLeaks released two messages on Twitter that added fuel to the fire:

“Michael Hastings’ death has a very serious non-public complication. We will have more details later,” said the first. Two hours later, WikiLeaks tweeted more specific information:

“Michael Hastings contacted WikiLeaks lawyer Jennifer Robinson just a few hours before he died, saying that the FBI was investigating him,” the second message read.

It was speculated by others that Hastings was working on a story about Drone Surveillance in the U.S.

Three years into the disappearance of Bowe Bergdahl in Afghanistan, Michael Hastings — the journalist whose reporting cost General Stanley McChrystal his job — wrote a Rolling Stone story on the missing soldier, a piece which the magazine called “the definitive first account of Bowe Bergdahl.”

Today, it’s noted in the WikiLeaks data dump: “As of October 2014 the CIA was also looking at infecting the vehicle control systems used by modern cars and trucks. The purpose of such control is not specified, but it would permit the CIA to engage in nearly undetectable assassinations.” The phrasing “as of October 2014” does not preclude the earlier existence of such an ability.

Is it possible, as some have speculated, that the electronic systems on Hasting’s C250 had been “hijacked?” This WikiLeaks release does nothing to refute that contention.